FAO and partners are launching the call for applications for the Hack4DigitalVillages innovation challenge. The event has been developed to harness the intellectual and creative abilities of Fergana's youth and focus those energies on digital innovations for the benefit of rural people living in FAO’s pilot digital villages across the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan.

The innovation challenge will provide a space for young developers, agricultural experts, and technology enthusiasts to co-create, and develop digital solutions that tackle the unique challenges and enhance agricultural practices of local farmers. It will take place from 24 to 26 November at the Fergana branch of the Tashkent University of Information Technologies.

Over the course of three days, participating teams will meet their peers, learn from each other, and will have the opportunity to work directly with farmers. Throughout the challenge, they will benefit from the mentorship of experts from FAO, OSCE, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), USAID, IT Park, Universities, and others, and will receive several trainings to refine their solutions and pitches.

Hack4DigitalVillages invites ambitious and innovative proposals from youth in Fergana Valley that harness the power of technology to tackle the following critical challenges affecting rural people in the region:

• Greenhouse management
  
• Water use and irrigation efficiency
  
• Pesticide management and control
  
• Education for agribusiness development